Entertainment Tonight averaged 2.99 million viewers for the week of October 5, a 9 percent rise on the same week last year, according to Variety. The figures put the CBS newsmagazine at the front of the syndicated news field as the new television season got under way. The show also recorded double-digit growth in key age groups over the same period, a result that stands out in a daytime market where audiences have been shrinking for years.
The gains held across the first month of the season. From September 28 to October 25, the show’s 46th season averaged 2.88 million viewers, up 8 percent on the previous year. Variety reported growth among adults and women in the 25 to 54 age range, the group advertisers watch most closely in daytime. The numbers arrived in the weeks after the show’s main rival left the air.
Entertainment Tonight gains after Access Hollywood ends
Access Hollywood aired its final episode on September 11, closing a run of almost 30 years. NBCUniversal announced in March that it would stop producing first-run syndicated programmes, a decision that also ended Access Hollywood Live, Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show. The company said local stations no longer wanted the daytime format in the numbers needed to pay for it.
The two shows had competed directly since 1996, when Access Hollywood launched with the stated aim of taking on Entertainment Tonight. The NBC programme never displaced its CBS rival from the top of the newsmagazine rankings, though it ran for three decades and built its own audience. Its final hosts were Mario Lopez, Kit Hoover, Scott Evans and Zuri Hall.
A smaller field for syndicated newsmagazines
NBCUniversal’s exit leaves fewer programmes in the field. Entertainment Tonight continues on CBS, while Inside Edition and Extra also remain on the air. The change ends a run of syndicated talk and news shows from NBCUniversal that once filled large parts of the daytime schedule. Frances Berwick, who chairs Bravo and Peacock unscripted at NBCUniversal, said the company would keep distributing library episodes of its talk programmes and network shows such as Law and Order.
The shift reflects how daytime viewing has changed. Audiences have moved to streaming, short video and social media for celebrity news, and the viewer numbers needed to fund first-run daytime production no longer hold. Variety reported in March that market conditions no longer supported the traditional syndication model, a point NBCUniversal echoed when it confirmed the cuts. The format once produced large profits for its owners, with daytime stars drawing audiences that local stations could sell to advertisers at high rates.
The double-digit growth in key demographics gives the show a stronger hand with advertisers, who pay the most for viewers aged 25 to 54. Entertainment Tonight reported gains in that group across the first month of the season, a period when buyers set rates for the months ahead. The show’s 46th season opened with those numbers intact, and the departure of its rival leaves it with the largest audience in its field.
Entertainment Tonight and the syndication model
In syndication, shows are sold directly to local stations rather than through a single network, and each station sets its own time slot. That structure gave Entertainment Tonight a wide reach across the country, with the programme airing in afternoons and early evenings in most markets. The model depends on steady ratings in each market, since stations pay fees tied to the audience the show delivers.
The show’s early-season figures suggest it has kept that reach while its rival has gone. The 9 percent year-on-year rise in the week of October 5 came as the season opened, a period when networks and syndicators set the terms for the months ahead. Growth among women and adults aged 25 to 54 matters to the show because those viewers draw the highest advertising rates in daytime. The season average of 2.88 million viewers, up 8 percent, gives CBS Media Ventures a strong opening position for the rest of the year.
Access Hollywood’s departure also closes a chapter that began when the show launched in September 1996, created by Jim Van Messel, a former Entertainment Tonight executive producer. The programme was built to compete with the CBS show and ran for 30 years before NBCUniversal ended it. Entertainment Tonight now enters the rest of its 46th season without its longest-running rival.